A teenage assassin who murdered a 15-year-old girl for just £16 over an argument on Facebook could face just one year behind bars.

Joyce Winsie Hau was stabbed to death at her home in Rotterdam, Holland by the 15-year-old boy, identified only as ‘Jinhua K’, who was sent to kill her by her best friend and her boyfriend in January.

In what has become known as the ‘Facebook murder’, Joyce had allegedly gossiped about the sexual escapades of her friend ‘Polly W’, 16, on Facebook and other social media.

'Facebook murder': 15-year-old Joyce Winsie Hau was stabbed to death by a 15-year-old boy hired by her best friend because Joyce was posting comments about her sexual escapades on Facebook

Polly conspired with her boyfriend ‘Wesley C’ to kill her friend as revenge.

Holland’s Chinese-Dutch community has been left shocked by the gruesome crime and the country is questioning how young teenagers are capable of such violence and brutality.

Jinhua appeared in court on Tuesday where the prosecutor is seeking one year imprisonment for him followed by involuntary juvenile commitment. In Holland, 12 months is the maximum sentence for juveniles between 12 and 16.

The pair hired Jinhua to carry out the crime for a sum of money, reportedly £16 and the promise to pay for drinks when he went out.

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According to the Dutch Justice Ministry, the offenders spent weeks planning their plot, communicating with the assassin and providing him with information about Joyce including her address and when she would be home.

In convincing the assassin to go ahead with the plan, Polly and Wesley allegedly threatened to kill him if he did not complete their mission.

Jinhua told judges that he was ‘enormously sorry’ for murdering Joyce.

In a letter to the judge, Joyce’s father Chun Nam Hau wrote: ‘I ask myself every day how these people could have killed her just because of a dispute.

‘I notice that children are becoming more and more violent. They’re not respectful. They don’t think about others.’

Planned murder: 'Polly W' got so angry with Joyce's Facebook comments about her she planned Joyce's murder for weeks with her boyfriend 'Wesley C'

The father’s plea has highlighted the question of whether the police and social services are doing enough to prevent teenage violence, putting it on the political agenda for the upcoming general election on September 12.

Director of charity My Child Online, Remco Pijpers said it was unreasonable to label Facebook as part of the crime because it suggests that the social networking site was in some way at fault.

He said: ‘Facebook may have been involved in this particular case, but in reality this was a case of bullying on the internet. It could have happened anywhere.

‘Parents need to be aware that it is very hard for teenagers if derogatory things are said about them in front of their friends.

‘This is an opportunity for parents to talk about it to their children.’

Jihua’s court case comes as three teenage boys, two aged 14 and the other 15, were arrested in connection with the death of a 17-year-old girl who went missing earlier this month.

Sehriban Akpinar was also found dead with multiple stab wounds in bushes in Rotterdam after she was last seen riding her bike. Reportedly her throat had also been cut.